Recording device recording method and program

ABSTRACT

A recording device records various items of information onto a removable medium. The recording device includes a medium unit in which a removable medium is set, an obtaining unit that obtains information from an external source, a specifying unit that specifies an item of information whose recording detail is defined by a data format of the removable medium that is set in the medium unit, and a recording unit that judges whether an item of the information obtained by the obtaining unit matches the item specified by the specifying unit and records the obtained information onto the removable medium when judging affirmatively and onto another medium when judging negatively.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a recording device that records videodata and the like onto a removable medium.

BACKGROUND ART

Digital recorders have recently been developed and commercialized fordigitally recording audio and video data (AV data) of broadcast programstransmitted by digital broadcasting services. A digital recorder istypically used as being connected via an IEEE 1394 interface to adigital TV (hereafter, a “DTV”) or the like that receives digitalbroadcasts. The IEEE 1394 enables AV data etc. that requires real-timetransfer, to be transferred between devices using an isochronoustransfer method, and enables control data to be transferred betweendevices using an asynchronous transfer method. For the transfer ofcontrol data, AV/C commands specified by the 1394 Trade Association areused.

The AV/C commands are a command set used by an AV device forremote-controlling another AV device connected via the IEEE 1394. Here,a device such as a DTV that performs remote-control, i.e., a device thatissues a command, is referred as a “controller”, whereas a device suchas a digital recorder that is remote-controlled, i.e., a device thatreceives a command, is referred to as a “target”. Examples of AV/Ccommands used by the controller include: commands to control thetarget's functions including playback and recording of AV data etc. andwriting and reading of information about the AV data; and commands toquery the current status of the target.

These AV/C commands can realize various applications, one of which isdescribed below. The DTV issues an AV/C command to the digital recorder,so as to read various information about AV data of each broadcastprogram, such as a title name, recording date and time, and programoutline. The DTV arranges and displays the read information, so that theuser can select a broadcast program he or she wants by referring to thedisplayed information. Upon receipt of a user selection of a broadcastprogram, the DTV issues an AV/C command to instruct the digital recorderto play back AV data of the broadcast program.

The following describes one example of the processing flow of thisapplication.

The DTV receives AV data of broadcast programs transmitted via digitalbroadcasting services, and obtains information about AV data of eachbroadcast program, such as a title name, recording date and time, andprogram outline from an EPG (electric program guide) transmittedtogether with the AV data. Such information about AV data of eachbroadcast program is hereafter referred to as “program information” inthis specification. The DTV then transfers, to the digital recorder, thereceived AV data of broadcast programs and the obtained programinformation, together with an AV/C command that instructs the digitalrecorder to write them therein.

Upon receipt of this AV/C command, the digital recorder records thetransferred AV data and the program information onto its recordingmedium.

After the digital recorder completes the recording, the DTV issues anAV/C command that instructs the digital recorder to read all programinformation stored in the recording medium.

Upon receipt of this AV/C command, the digital recorder transmits allprogram information stored in the recording medium to the DTV.

The DTV receives the program information, and generates a program listlisting title names, program outlines, etc., of broadcast programs,based on the received program information. The DTV then displays theprogram list for user selection.

Upon receipt of a user operation selecting one broadcast program in theprogram list, the DTV specifies AV data of the broadcast program. Then,the DTV instructs the digital recorder to read the AV data of thebroadcast program. The DTV receives the AV data of the broadcast programfrom the digital recorder, and plays back the received AV data.

In realizing the above application, however, a problem may arise whenthe recording medium of the digital recorder is an optical disc. Opticaldiscs of different types often employ different data formats. Theproblem is therefore that compatibility may not be maintained betweenthe DTV and a certain type of optical disc.

Here, the data format of an optical disc defines items of programinformation that can be recorded on the optical disc, a recording areaof each item, and a size of a recording area of each item. As examples,a DVD-RAM and a DVD-RW employ the DVD Video recording format, whereas aDVD-R and a DVD-ROM employ the DVD Video format.

The above problem of incompatibility occurs when the DTV, and an opticaldisc loaded in the digital recorder employ different data formats anditems of program information defined by the data format of the DTV arenot defined by the data format of the optical disc. In this case, thedigital decoder cannot record certain items of program information ontothe optical disc even if instructed to do so by the DTV with the use ofan AV/C command. As a result of this, the digital decoder cannot readsuch items of program information from the optical disc at the time wheninstructed to do so by the DTV with the use of an AV/C command.Accordingly, the DTV fails to obtain and display these items of programinformation.

In particular, optical discs with a large capacity that have beendeveloped in recent years employ the data format defining various itemsof data that are not defined by the existing data formats. Therefore,the above problem of incompatibility is even more serious betweendevices complying with such large-capacity optical discs and theexisting optical discs. To solve this problem, one method is to enablethe DTV to identify the data format of an optical disc currently loadedin the digital recorder and switch AV/C commands to be issued to thedigital recorder in accordance with the identified data format. Withthis method, however, the DTV may suffer from degraded developmentefficiency of applications.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

To solve the above problems, the object of the present invention is toprovide a digital recorder that is free from the above problem ofincompatibility, without requiring a controller such as a DTV to switchcommands in accordance with a data format of an optical disc loaded inthe digital recorder.

The above object can be achieved by a recording device that recordsvarious items of information onto a removable medium and that includes amedium unit in which a removable medium is set, an obtaining unitoperable to obtain information from an external source, a specifyingunit operable to specify an item of information whose recording detailis defined by a data format of the removable medium that is set in themedium unit, and a recording unit operable to judge whether an item ofthe information obtained by the obtaining unit matches the itemspecified by the specifying unit, and record the obtained information(i) onto the removable medium when judging affirmatively, and (ii) ontoanother medium when judging negatively.

According to this construction, when the recording device receives allitems of information defined by the data format of an external device(e.g., DTV) together with an instruction to record the items ofinformation, the recording device can record, without fail, all theitems of information onto a removable medium or another medium. At thetime of recording, the external device is neither required to recognizeitems of information allowed to be recorded and items of information notallowed to be recorded according to the data format of the removablemedium loaded in the recording device, nor required to switch commandsfor instructing the recording in accordance with the recognition.

The recording device of the present invention may further include aninstruction obtaining unit operable to obtain, from the external source,an instruction to read predetermined information, and a reading unitoperable to output the predetermined information relating to theinstruction to the external source, by reading the predeterminedinformation (i) from the removable medium when the predeterminedinformation is recorded on the removable medium, and (ii) from the othermedium when the predetermined information is not recorded on theremovable medium but is recorded on the other medium.

According to this construction, even when the recording device isinstructed by an external device to read an item of information that isnot defined by the data format of the removable medium, the recordingdevice can respond to the instruction of the external device by readingsuch an item of information, if stored therein, from the other recordingmedium. Also, the external device is neither required to recognize itemsof information defined by the data format of the removable medium, norrequired to switch commands for instructing the reading in accordancewith the recognition.

The recording device of the present invention may further include apseudo-information generating unit operable to generate pseudoinformation and output the pseudo information instead of thepredetermined information to the external source, when the predeterminedinformation relating to the instruction is recorded neither on theremovable medium nor on the other medium.

According to this construction, even when the recording device isinstructed by an external device to read an item of information that isrecorded neither on the removable medium nor on the other recordingmedium, the recording device can respond to the instruction of theexternal device by generating pseudo information.

Here, the pseudo-information generating unit may be operable to generatethe pseudo information based on information recorded on the removablemedium or on the other medium.

According to this construction, the pseudo-information generating unitcan generate pseudo information relating to information recorded on theremovable medium or the other recording medium.

The recording device of the present invention may further include anotifying unit operable to output a notification signal to the externalsource after the recording unit completes recording onto the removablemedium or onto the other medium, the notification signal indicating thatthe recording unit has performed the recording.

Here, a type of the removable medium to be set therein may be at leastone of a DVD-RAM, a DVD-R, a DVD-ROM, and a DVD-RW.

Here, a signal may be transmitted and received to and from the externalsource via a digital interface.

The digital interface may be one of IEEE 1394, USB, and Ethernet.

Also, the other medium may be one of a flexible disk, a hard disk, anMO, and a semiconductor memory.

According to this construction, the recording device can be applied tosuch a case where a plurality of removable mediums are loaded in andout. To be more specific, the recording device can write, to the otherrecording medium, items of information that are not allowed to berecorded on each removable medium, in association with a disc identifierof the removable medium.

The recording device of the present invention may further include a discidentifier obtaining unit operable to obtain a disc identifier of theremovable medium that is set in the medium unit, when the recording unitperforms recording onto the other medium. Here, when the recording unitrecords the information whose item does not match the item specified bythe specifying unit onto the other medium, the recording unit recordsthe information in association with the disc identifier obtained by thedisc identifier obtaining unit.

According to this construction, even when items of informationcorresponding to a plurality of removable mediums are recorded in theother recording medium, the recording device can specify and read itemsof information corresponding to the currently loaded removable medium,using a disc identifier of the currently loaded removable medium.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention willbecome apparent from the following description thereof taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings that illustrate a specificembodiment of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows an example of a network including a DTV 110 and an opticaldisc recorder 120;

FIG. 2 shows an example construction of the optical disc recorder 120;

FIG. 3 shows an example data structure of program informationtransferred from the DTV 110 to the optical disc recorder 120 with theuse of an AV/C command;

FIG. 4 shows an example data structure of recorded-program managementinformation 500 defined by the data format of an optical disc 372;

FIG. 5 shows an example data structure of program information to bestored in an information storage buffer when the optical disc 372 havingthe data format shown in FIG. 4 is loaded;

FIG. 6 shows a format of FCP transmitted from the DTV 110 to the opticaldisc recorder 120;

FIG. 7 shows the data structure of an AV/C command that instructsrecording;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a recording process performed by theoptical disc recorder 120 for recording program information;

FIG. 9 shows the data structure of an AV/C command that instructsreading; and

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a reading process performed by theoptical disc recorder 120 for reading program information.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows an example of a network including a DTV and an optical discrecorder.

In the figure, a DTV 110 and an optical disc recorder 120 are connectedvia an IEEE 1394 bus 100. A remote controller 130 receives a useroperation, and issues an instruction to the DTV 110 according to theuser operation.

FIG. 2 shows an example construction of the optical disc recorder 120.

As shown in the figure, the optical disc recorder 120 includes anisochronous processing unit 310 that controls an isochronous transfer,an asynchronous processing unit 320 that controls an asynchronoustransfer, a command processing unit 330 that processes an AV/C command,a data buffer 340 that temporarily stores AV data, an informationstorage buffer 350, a drive controlling unit 360 that controls anoptical disc drive 370, and the optical disc drive 370.

The information storage buffer 350 is a storage medium for storing itemsof program information that are not defined by the data formatdetermined in advance for the optical disc 372 loaded in the opticaldisc drive 370.

This storage medium may be realized by a flexible disk, a hard disk, anMO, or a semiconductor memory.

The optical disc drive 370 includes a record/playback controlling unit371 that controls recording and playback of the optical disc 372 loadedtherein.

Types of the optical disc 372 to be loaded in the optical disc drive 370are a DVD-RAM, a DVD-R, a DVD-ROM, a DVD-RW, etc.

FIG. 3 shows an example data structure of program information that istransferred from the DTV 110 to the optical disc recorder 120 with theuse of an AV/C command. As defined above, the “program information” isinformation about AV data of broadcast programs.

As shown in the figure, the program information is made up of headerinformation 400, program management information 410, and one or morepieces of program individual information 420 provided in one-to-onecorrespondence with programs (more specifically, AV data) to which thisprogram information relates. The header information 400 is informationabout a size etc. of the entire program information. The programmanagement information 410 is information about all the programs. Eachpiece of program individual information 420 is detailed informationabout the corresponding program.

Each piece of program individual information 420 is made up of a header430 that shows a size etc. of the piece of program individualinformation, and items of information about the corresponding program.The items of information included herein are: a recording date and time440; a title name 450; and a program outline 460.

It should be noted here that items included in the program individualinformation 420 may not be limited to the above listed items, but achannel name or other items maybe included. It should also be noted herethat “#n” (n is a natural number) is a number given to each piece ofprogram individual information for the purpose of identification. Here,the DTV 110 may transfer, for example, only the program individualinformation #1, or may transfer the entire program information to theoptical disc recorder 120.

FIG. 4 shows an example structure of recorded-program managementinformation 500 defined by the data format of the optical disc 372.

The recorded-program management information 500 is defined as an areafor storing information about programs (more specifically, AV data), andis made up of a program management information table 510 and a programinformation table 520. The program management information table 510 isprovided for managing all the programs (the entire AV data) recorded onthe optical disc 372. The program information table 520 is provided forstoring program information, i.e., information about each program. Theprogram information table 520 is made up of header information 530, andone or more pieces of program individual information 540 provided inone-to-one correspondence with the programs. The header information 530is information about a size etc. of the program information table. Eachpiece of program individual information 540 is information about thecorresponding program. Each piece of program individual information 540is made up of items of information about the corresponding program,namely, a recording date and time 550; and a title name 560.

Although not shown in the figure, the data format of the optical disc372 also defines an area for storing AV data, besides the area of therecorded-program management information 500.

As can be known by comparing the data formats in FIGS. 3 and 4, the dataformat of the optical disc 372 in FIG. 4 defines the recording date andtime 550 and the title name 560 that correspond to the recording dateand time 440 and the title name 450 defined by the data format of theDTV 110 in FIG. 3, but does not define an item corresponding to theprogram outline 460 in FIG. 3.

To be more specific, this digital format allows these two items“recording date and time” and “title name”, to be recorded onto theoptical disc 372, but does not allow the item “program outline” to berecorded onto the optical disc 372.

It should be noted here that items of information allowed or not allowedto be recorded on the optical disc 372 according to its data formatshould not be limited to the examples shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 shows an example data structure of program information to bestored in the information storage buffer 350 when the optical disc 372having the data format shown in FIG. 4 is loaded in.

The information storage buffer 350 is made up of header information 600that is information about the number etc. of programs to which thisprogram information relates, and one or more pieces of programindividual information 610 provided in one-to-one correspondence withthe programs. Each piece of program individual information 610 is madeup of an item of information about the corresponding program, namely, aprogram outline 620.

It should be noted here that in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5, items of informationthat make up a piece of program individual information with the samenumber are the same information. To be more specific, the recording dateand time 440 and the title name 450 that make up the program individualinformation #1 in FIG. 3 are respectively the same information as therecording date and time 550 and the title name 560 that make up theprogram individual information #1 in FIG. 4. In the same manner, theprogram outline 460 that makes up the program individual information #1in FIG. 3 is the same information as the program outline 620 that makesup the program individual information #1 in FIG. 5.

The following describes recording of program information.

FIG. 6 shows a format of FCP (Fiber Channel Protocol) transmitted fromthe DTV 110 to the optical disc recorder 120.

The FCP is a protocol employed for an AV/C command to control an AVdevice on the IEEE 1394.

FIG. 7 shows the data structure of an AV/C command that instructsrecording.

As shown in the figure, the AV/C command is made up of an operation code800, auxiliary information 810, a transfer length 820, an address 830,an original data length 840, and data 850. The operation code 800indicates the content of the instruction (to write). The auxiliaryinformation 810 is information relating to the content of theinstruction. The transfer length 820 indicates the size of data to betransmitted. The address 830 indicates a location at which the data isto be stored. The original data length 840 indicates a length of data tobe stored. The data 850 is data to be transmitted (program informationin the present case).

The AV/C command shown in FIG. 7 is transferred as being stored in thecommand storage area 700 of the FCP format in FIG. 6.

The following describes the processing performed by the optical discrecorder 120, upon receipt of an instruction (AV/C command) to recorditems of program information transferred using the data structure shownin FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a recording process performed by theoptical disc recorder 120 to record items of program information.

The optical disc recorder 120 receives the AV/C command and the items ofprogram information transferred from the DTV 110, via the asynchronousprocessing unit 320 (step S900).

The command processing unit 330 then obtains the AV/C command from thecommand storage area 700, analyzes the operation code 800 etc, todetermine which processing to be performed. The command processing unit330 obtains the items of program information that make up the programindividual information 420, and judges, for each item, whether an areain which the item can be recorded is defined in the optical disc (stepS901). This judgment is realized by specifying an item of informationthat is allowed to be recorded on the optical disc according to the dataformat determined in advance for the optical disc, and comparing thespecified item with each item of information that makes up the programindividual information 420. To be more specific, the command processingunit 330 specifies the data format of the optical disc. As one examplemethod for specifying the data format of the loaded optical disc, thecommand processing unit 330 may prestore characteristics unique to eachdata format in association with its data format name, and examine whichcharacteristic the loaded optical disc has, so as to specify the dataformat.

Examples of the characteristics include data unique to each data format,a data length unique to each data format, a structure unique to anoptical disc with each data format, and a data format name recorded onan optical disc with each data format.

Following this, the command processing unit 330 specifies an item ofinformation whose recording detail is defined by the data format of theoptical disc. As a method for specifying such an item of information,the command processing unit 330 may prestore each data format inassociation with a name of an item of information whose recording detailis defined by each data format, and read a name of such an item that isassociated with the specified data format, to specify an item ofinformation whose recording detail is defined.

Finally, the command processing unit 330 obtains items of informationthat makeup the program individual information 420, and judges whethereach item of information that makes up the program individualinformation 420 matches the above specified item. As a result of thisjudgment, an item of information matching the specified item is allowedto be recorded on the optical disc, and an item of information notmatching the specified item is not allowed to be recorded on the opticaldisc.

When judging that such an area is defined in the optical disc, like inthe case of the item “recording date and time” (“Yes” in step S901), thecommand processing unit 330 records the item of information onto theoptical disc 372 via the drive controlling unit 360 (step S902).

On the other hand, when judging that such an area is not defined (“No”in step S901), the command processing unit 330 stores the itemofinformation into the information storage buffer 350 (step S903). Whenall the items of program information transferred from the DTV 110 areeither recorded on the optical disc 372 or stored in the informationstorage buffer 350, the command processing unit 330 transmits acompletion message indicating the completion of the processing of theAV/C command, to the DTV 110 via the asynchronous processing unit 320(step S904).

This completes the process for transferring the items of programinformation from the DTV 110 to the optical disc recorder 120.

Next, the following describes reading of program information.

FIG. 9 shows the data structure of an AV/C command that instructsreading.

As shown in the figure, the AV/C command is made up of an operation code1000, auxiliary information 1010, a transfer length 1020, and an address1030. The operation code 1000 indicates the content of the instruction(to read). The auxiliary information 1010 is information relating to thecontent of the instruction. The transfer length 1020 indicates the sizeof data to be transferred. The address 1030 indicates a location atwhich the data to be transferred is stored.

In the same manner as that for the AV/C command that instructs recordingdescribed above, this AV/C command is transferred from the DTV 110 tothe optical disc recorder 120 as being stored in the command storagearea 700 of the FCP format in FIG. 6.

The following describes the processing performed by the optical discrecorder 120, upon receipt of an instruction (AV/C command) to readitems of program information transferred using the data structure shownin FIG. 9.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a reading process performed by theoptical disc recorder 120 to read items of program information.

The optical disc recorder 120 receives the AV/C command transferred fromthe DTV 110, via the asynchronous processing unit 320, and then thecommand processing unit 330 analyzes the AV/C command (step S1100).

To be more specific, the command processing unit 330 first obtains theAV/C command from the command storage area 700, and analyzes theoperation code 1000 etc., to determine which processing to be performed.Then, the command processing unit 330 judges, for each of items ofprogram information indicated by the received AV/C command (namely, therecording date and time 440, the title name 450, and the program outline460), whether an area in which the item can be recorded is defined inthe optical disc (step S111). This judgment is specifically performedfor example in the following way. The command processing unit 330 firstspecifies the data format of the optical disc that is loaded in theoptical disc drive 370. This specification is performed in the samemanner as in step 901.

The command processing unit 330 then specifies an item of informationwhose recording detail is defined by the data format of the loadedoptical disc. This specification is also performed in the same manner asin step S901.

The command processing unit 330 next judges whether each item of programinformation indicated by the received AV/C command matches the abovespecified item. The command processing unit 330 determines that an itemof information matching the specified item is recorded on the opticaldisc, and an item of information not matching the specified item is notrecorded on the optical disc.

When such an area is defined in the optical disc (“Yes” in step S1101),the command processing unit 330 reads the item of information from theoptical disc 372 via the drive controlling unit 360 (step S1102).

On the other hand, when such an area is not defined (“No” in stepS1102), the command processing unit 330 reads the item of informationfrom the information storage buffer 350 (step S1103). Upon collectingall the items of program information indicated by the AV/C command inthe above-described way, the command processing unit 330 transmits thecollected items of program information and a completion messageindicating the completion of the processing of the AV/C command, to theDTV 110 via the asynchronous processing unit 320 (step S1104).

Although the present invention is described based on the aboveembodiment, it should be clear that the present invention is not limitedto the above embodiment. For example, the following modifications arepossible.

(1) When the optical disc recorder 120 is instructed to read an item ofprogram information recorded neither in the optical disc 372 nor in theinformation storage buffer 350, i.e., when a recording area for the itemof program information is not defined in the optical disc according toits data format and also the item of program information is not storedin the information storage buffer 350, the optical disc recorder 120 maygenerate pseudo information using information relating to the item. Forexample, in the case of the item “title name” recorded neither in theoptical disc 372 nor in the information storage buffer 350, the opticaldisc recorder 120 may generate pseudo information using a title numberobtained for the corresponding program. For example, the generatedpseudo information may be “title 1”, “title 2”, “title 3”, etc., in theorder of title names. Further, in the case of the item “program outline”recorded neither in the optical disc 372 nor in the information storagebuffer 350, the optical disc recorder 120 may generate pseudoinformation by obtaining information about the corresponding programfrom the Internet or the like and extracting only necessary informationfrom the obtained information. By generating such pseudo information, atleast some information can be displayed for the user's reference,thereby improving the user convenience. In this way, the process fortransferring items of program information from the optical disc recorder120 to the DTV 110 is completed.

By storing items of information that are not defined by the data formatof the optical disc into the information storage buffer as describedabove, the processing of an AV/C command instructing to record or readitems of information whose recording areas are not defined is enabled,thereby avoiding such an AV/C command being ended in error. Therefore,the DTV is enabled to use the same application, regardless of types ofmediums to be loaded in the optical disc recorder.

(2) Although the above embodiment describes the case where only aprogram outline is set as an item of program information whose recordingarea is not defined in the optical disc, the present invention shouldnot be limited to such. For example, a title name may be set as such anitem.

(3) Although the above embodiment describes the case where thecontroller is a DTV, the present invention should not be limited tosuch. For example, the controller may be an STB (set top box) connectedto a TV via an analogue cable.

(4) Although the above embodiment describes the case where theinformation storage buffer is a memory, the present invention should notbe limited to such. For example, the information storage buffer may berealized by an HDD (hard disk drive), or a manufacture's free area or auser data area provided in an optical disc.

(5) Although the above embodiment describes the case where only aprogram outline is set as an item of program information whose recordingarea is not defined in the optical disc, the present invention shouldnot be limited to such. For example, a title name, or all the items maybe set as such items.

(6) The command processing unit may have the function of applying thesame command processing to optical discs with different applicationformats to be loaded in, instead of performing different commandprocessing for different optical discs. In this case, the optical discrecorder notifies the DTV that the type of the currently loaded mediumis uniformly, for example, a “general-purpose recording/playback disc”regardless of the type of the medium. On the other hand, the opticaldisc recorder may transmit text data showing for example “DVD-RAM” tothe DTV, so that the DTV displays the text data, thereby enabling theuser to check the type of the loaded medium. As a result of this, thecommand processing can be simplified, without requiring the DTV tochange processing depending on types of mediums, and also withoutconfusing the user. As a result of this, burdens on the developmentefficiency of applications can be alleviated.

(7) Although the above embodiment describes the case where only the DTVand the optical disc recorder are connected to the 1394 bus, the presentinvention should not be limited to such. For example, an HDD recordermay additionally be connected. In this case, if program informationtransmitted and received between the DTV and the HDD recorder areidentical to program information transmitted and received between theDTV and the optical disc recorder, the DTV can benefit from improveddevelopment efficiency of applications.

(8) Although the above embodiment describes the case where datatransferred with the use of an AV/C command is program information, thepresent invention should not be limited to such. For example, such datathat indicates settings of devices may be transferred with the use of anAV/C command.

(9) Although the above embodiment describes the case where the recorderuses an optical disc as its recording medium, the present inventionshould not be limited to such. For example, the recorder may use an HDDas its recording medium.

(10) Although the above embodiment describes the case where the IEEE1394 is employed as a digital interface, the present invention shouldnot be limited to such. For example, the USB or Ethernet may beemployed.

(11) Although the above embodiment describes the case where the opticaldisc recorder 120 performs a recording process or a reading process onone optical disc, the optical disc recorder 120 may be constructed toperform a recording process or a reading process on a plurality ofoptical discs.

In this case, at the time of recording program information into theinformation storage buffer 350, the optical disc recorder 120 obtains adisc identifier (e.g., a serial number) of the currently loaded opticaldisc 372, and records the disc identifier and the program informationinto the information storage buffer 350 in such a manner that the discidentifier and the program information are associated with each other.In this way, program information corresponding to each of the pluralityof optical discs can be recorded in the information storage buffer 350as being associated with the corresponding optical disc's identifier.

At the time of reading program information from the information storagebuffer 350, the optical disc recorder 120 obtains a disc identifier fromthe currently loaded optical disc 372, and specifies the programinformation associated with the obtained disc identifier in theinformation storage buffer 350, out of the program information recordedtherein in association with disc identifies of a plurality of opticaldiscs, and then reads the specified program information from theinformation storage buffer 350.

Industrial Application

The recording device of present invention is useful as a digitalrecorder that supports reading and writing of data data formats.

1. A recording device that records various items of information onto aremovable medium, comprising: a medium unit in which a removable mediumis set; an obtaining unit operable to obtain information from anexternal source; a specifying unit operable to specify an item ofinformation whose recording detail is defined by a data format of theremovable medium that is set in the medium unit; and a recording unitoperable to judge whether an item of the information obtained by theobtaining unit matches the item specified by the specifying unit, andrecord the obtained information (i) onto the removable medium whenjudging affirmatively, and (ii) onto another medium when judgingnegatively.
 2. The recording device of claim 1, further comprising: aninstruction obtaining unit operable to obtain, from the external source,an instruction to read predetermined information; and a reading unitoperable to output the predetermined information relating to theinstruction to the external source, by reading the predeterminedinformation (i) from the removable medium when the predeterminedinformation is recorded on the removable medium, and (ii) from the othermedium when the predetermined information is not recorded on theremovable medium but is recorded on the other medium.
 3. The recordingdevice of claim 2, further comprising a pseudo-information generatingunit operable to generate pseudo information and output the pseudoinformation instead of the predetermined information to the externalsource, when the predetermined information relating to the instructionis recorded neither on the removable medium nor on the other medium. 4.The recording device of claim 3, wherein the pseudo-informationgenerating unit is operable to generate the pseudo information based oninformation recorded on the removable medium or on the other medium. 5.The recording device of claim 2, further comprising a notifying unitoperable to output a notification signal to the external source afterthe recording unit completes recording onto the removable medium or ontothe other medium, the notification signal indicating that the recordingunit has performed the recording.
 6. The recording device of claim 2,wherein a type of the removable medium to be set therein is at least oneof a DVD-RAM, a DVD-R, a DVD-ROM, and a DVD-RW.
 7. The recording deviceof claim 2, wherein a signal is transmitted and received to and from theexternal source via a digital interface.
 8. The recording device ofclaim 7, wherein the digital interface is one of IEEE 1394, USB, andEthernet.
 9. The recording device of claim 2, wherein the other mediumis one of a flexible disk, a hard disk, an MO, and a semiconductormemory.
 10. The recording device of claim 2, further comprising a discidentifier obtaining unit operable to obtain a disc identifier of theremovable medium that is set in the medium unit, when the recording unitperforms recording onto the other medium, wherein when the recordingunit records the information whose item does not match the itemspecified by the specifying unit onto the other medium, the recordingunit records the information in association with the disc identifierobtained by the disc identifier obtaining unit.
 11. The recording deviceof claim 10, wherein the disc identifier obtaining unit is operable toobtain a disc identifier of the removable medium that is set in themedium unit, when the reading unit performs reading from the othermedium, and wherein when the predetermined information relating to theinstruction is not recorded on the removable medium, the reading unit isoperable to search the other medium for the predetermined informationrecorded in association with the disc identifier obtained by the discidentifier obtaining unit, by using the obtained disc identifier as akey, and read and output the predetermined information when thepredetermined information is recorded therein.
 12. A recording methodfor recording various items of information onto a removable medium, themethod comprising: a medium-setting step of setting a removable medium;an obtaining step of obtaining information from an external source; aspecifying step of specifying an item of information whose recordingdetail is defined by a data format of the removable medium that is setin the medium-setting step; and a recording step of judging whether anitem of the information obtained in the obtaining step matches the itemspecified in the specifying step, and recording the obtained information(i) onto the removable medium when a judgment result is affirmative, and(ii) onto another medium when a judgment result is negative.
 13. Therecording method of claim 12, further comprising: an instructionobtaining step of obtaining, from the external source, an instruction toread predetermined information; and a reading step of outputting thepredetermined information relating to the instruction to the externalsource, by reading the predetermined information (i) from the removablemedium when the predetermined information is recorded on the removablemedium, and (ii) from the other medium when the predeterminedinformation is not recorded on the removable medium but is recorded onthe other medium.
 14. The recording method of claim 13, furthercomprising a pseudo-information generating step of generating pseudoinformation and outputting the pseudo information instead of thepredetermined information to the external source, when the predeterminedinformation relating to the instruction is recorded neither on theremovable medium nor on the other medium.
 15. The recording method ofclaim 14 wherein in the pseudo-information generating step, the pseudoinformation is generated based on information recorded on the removablemedium or on the other medium.
 16. The recording method of claim 13,further comprising a disc identifier obtaining step of obtaining a discidentifier of the removable medium that is set in the medium-settingstep, when recording onto the other medium is performed in the recordingstep, wherein when the information whose item does not match the itemspecified in the specifying step is recorded onto the other medium inthe recording step, the information is recorded in association with thedisc identifier obtained in the disc identifier obtaining step.
 17. Therecording method of claim 16, wherein in the disc identifier obtainingstep, a disc identifier of the removable medium that is set in themedium-setting step is obtained, when reading from the other medium isperformed in the reading step, and wherein when the predeterminedinformation relating to the instruction is not recorded on the removablemedium in the reading step, the other medium is searched for thepredetermined information recorded in association with the discidentifier obtained in the disc identifier obtaining step, by using theobtained disc identifier as a key, and the predetermined information isread and outputted when the predetermined information is recordedtherein.
 18. A computer program that realizes a recording method forrecording various items of information onto a removable medium, theprogram comprising: a medium-setting step of setting a removable medium;an obtaining step of obtaining information from an external source; aspecifying step of specifying an item of information whose recordingdetail is defined by a data format of the removable medium that is setin the medium-setting step; and a recording step of judging whether anitem of the information obtained in the obtaining step matches the itemspecified in the specifying step, and recording the obtained information(i) onto the removable medium when a judgment result is affirmative, and(ii) onto another medium when a judgment result is negative.
 19. Theprogram of claim 18, further comprising: an instruction obtaining stepof obtaining, from the external source, an instruction to readpredetermined information; and a reading step of outputting thepredetermined information relating to the instruction to the externalsource, by reading the predetermined information (i) from the removablemedium when the predetermined information is recorded on the removablemedium, and (ii) from the other medium when the predeterminedinformation is not recorded on the removable medium but is recorded onthe other medium.
 20. The program of claim 19, further comprising apseudo-information generating step of generating pseudo information andoutputting the pseudo information instead of the predeterminedinformation to the external source, when the predetermined informationrelating to the instruction is recorded neither on the removable mediumnor on the other medium.
 21. The program of claim 20 wherein in thepseudo-information generating step, the pseudo information is generatedbased on information recorded on the removable medium or on the othermedium.
 22. The program of claim 19, further comprising a discidentifier obtaining step of obtaining a disc identifier of theremovable medium that is set in the medium-setting step, when recordingonto the other medium is performed in the recording step, wherein whenthe information whose item does not match the item specified in thespecifying step is recorded onto the other medium in the recording step,the information is recorded in association with the disc identifierobtained in the disc identifier obtaining step.
 23. The program of claim22, wherein in the disc identifier obtaining step, a disc identifier ofthe removable medium that is set in the medium-setting step is obtained,when reading from the other medium is performed in the reading step, andwherein when the predetermined information relating to the instructionis not recorded on the removable medium in the reading step, the othermedium is searched for the predetermined information recorded inassociation with the disc identifier obtained in the disc identifierobtaining step, by using the obtained disc identifier as a key, and thepredetermined information is read and outputted when the predeterminedinformation is recorded therein.